Zoo keeper expelled after abuse of tiger cub is exposed in online video

A Chinese zoo has expelled a keeper after he was exposed abusing a South China Tiger cub from an endangered species under first-class state protection.

The clip, apparently captured by a surveillance camera, showed the keeper, dressed in a red, dangling the young cub upside down, flipping it around and repeatedly slapping it on the face inside a feeding room at the zoo.

At one point he is seen grabbing the animal by a foreleg and shaking it violently, despite its weak attempts at resistance. Later in the video he appears to accidentally drop the dazed creature to the floor.

As the footage continues a different man appears in the room, lifts the cub by its front legs and waves it around in the air, manipulating it as if it were a child’s doll.

The time signature on the screen suggests the abuse occurred on three separate occasions; Monday afternoon, Monday evening, and early on Tuesday morning.

It was not clear who uploaded the video.